DU Honors the Scrivner and Hummel Families With Founders Medals
The annual Founders Celebration recognizes the people and institutions that have left an indelible mark on our University and its future.
On March 5, supporters and friends of the University of Denver will gather in Magness Arena, where Chancellor Jeremy Haefner will present the Founders Medal, one of the highest honors bestowed by the University, to Doug Scrivner (JD '77), DU trustee, and Mary Scrivner and the Hummel Family Foundation in recognition of their transformative leadership and philanthropy in advancing DU’s mission and values.
“Founders Celebration is an opportunity to honor these wonderful recipients and also all the people throughout the years who have made DU what it is today—and will be in the future,” says Val Otten, senior vice chancellor for advancement.
This year's celebration also pays tribute to the late Donald L. Sturm (LLB '58), a long-time donor and Honorary Life Trustee who was honored alongside his wife, Sue Sturm, with an inaugural Founders Medal in 2016. Don and Sue donated the largest single gift in the history of DU’s law school and one of the largest gifts ever to the University. A driven and visionary leader in business and higher education, Don served as a member of the DU Board of Trustees for over three decades and gave generously of his time, expertise and support at critical times in our institution’s history.
The 2025 Honorees
Doug and Mary Scrivner met and got married at DU and have been dedicated supporters of the University ever since, including their generous $14 million gift in 2017 to establish the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy in the Korbel School of International Studies. Doug has held a number of leadership roles at DU over the years, including serving on the Board of Trustees and as chair from 2014 to 2018. An instrumental part of the University’s strategic planning and numerous initiatives, he also served as an adjunct professor in the Sturm College of Law and on the Advisory Board of Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers at the Institute for Advancing the American Legal System.
“There’s not a place on campus that hasn’t been touched by the Scrivners,” says Otten—including the Front Porch Café at Anderson Academic Commons, which was named to reflect the house where Doug grew up in Wisconsin and to symbolize the importance of community. The Scrivners have long been champions of transforming the student experience and better connecting our campus community to the city of Denver and Colorado.
The Hummel Family Foundation established a scholarship fund at DU in 2017 to support students who may not otherwise go to college. Dr. Robert “Bob” C. Hummel was co-founder of Animal Health International, one of the largest animal health distributors in the nation. When he sold his business, he, his wife Carole and their two children created the foundation to establish scholarship funds at five different higher education institutions that made a positive impact on their lives.
“It’s always been a dream of my father to give back,” Jennifer Hummel Ostenson (MBA ’91) told DU in 2017, two years after he passed. “Higher education was very important to him, and he wanted to provide kids who wouldn’t normally be able to go to college an opportunity to do so.” Thanks to the Hummel family’s generosity, more than 200 DU students have received scholarships, including 50 recipients this academic year.
